charity: Water
 | |
| Founded | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Scott Harrison |
| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Location | |
Area served | 20 countries |
| Website | charitywater.org |
charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Founded in 2006, it has helped fund 6,611 projects in 20 countries, benefiting over 2,545,000 people. Overall, the organization has raised over $40 million as of January 15, 2012.[1]
Operations
Based in New York City, charity: water uses both mainstream and social media platforms to raise awareness, including annual galas[2] and events arranged via Twitter.[3] The initiative has received donations from 50,000 individuals.[4] Dedicated donors cover administrative costs, so donations from the general public go to fund water projects.[4] It provides GPS coordinates and photos of the wells it builds.[5] The organization has 20 full-time staff members, 10 interns and more than 800 volunteers. charity: water uses 100% of public donations to fund clean water projects as its operating costs are funded by private donors, foundations and sponsors.
Beginnings
Founder Scott Harrison was a New York City club promoter for ten years. In 2004, Scott committed two years of his life to the poor and marginalized through volunteer service in Liberia with Mercy Ships. He traced problems surrounding education, safety, and health back to a lack of clean water and basic sanitation systems. Scott began to tap his network in an attempt to get as many people as possible to support his cause.[citation needed]
Rachel Beckwith
Rachel Beckwith was a nine-year-old American girl who, for her birthday, wanted to raise $300. She asked family and friends not to buy her any presents but to give money towards the charity: water campaign. In the month after her birthday, she had raised $220.
On July 20, 2011, Rachel was traveling in a car with her mother and sister when it was hit in a 13-vehicle pile-up. Her mother and sister escaped with minor injuries but Rachel was taken to hospital. On July 23, it was decided to turn off her life support.
A pastor from her church then reopened the donor page that she had created with her mother on a social network. Donations began to pour in from all over the world. On 12 August 2011, Rachel's campaign collections broke the $1 million mark. When the campaign ended on October 1, 2011, it had raised $1,271,713. This money was donated by 31,980 people across the world.[6]
PewDiePie[7]
On July 12, 2013, the YouTube star Felix Kjellberg, better known as Pewdiepie, asked his "bros" (his fans) to donate to charity: water in one of his videos. It was a way for him to celebrate the fact that he had over 10 millions subscriber on Youtube. He said he wanted to use his recent popularity for something useful. His goal was to reach $250 000. Moreover he decided to give 1$ for each 500 views on the video and thanks to the support of his network maker studio and a lot of sponsors he was able to give 1$ more for each 500 views.
Only 2 days after this video was published, more than $100 000 was already given to the association.
Here is what he wrote on his charity: water page to explain his action[7] :
"Hey and thanks for visiting my Charity: Water campaign. Hitting 10,000,000 subscribers means so much to me. In honor of that, I wanted to find something really cool that we could all do to celebrate, and I can't think of any better way to do that than working together to raise money for this awesome cause.100% of everything we raise will directly fund water projects. And when those projects are finished, charity: water will send each person who donates proof in pictures and GPS coordinates, so we can see the actual people and communities we all helped out.My goal is to have 10,000 bros donate and to raise at least $250,000. I know that this is a HUGE goal, but that if everyone pitches in even a tiny bit, I really think we can reach it. This will ensure that 12,500 people have clean drinking water for the first time.I will be donating a dollar for every 500 views my video announcing this campaign gets up to $10,000. My YouTube network, Polaris will be matching every dollar I give too."
External reviews
GiveWell review
Charity evaluator GiveWell published a review of charity: water in December 2012. Their overall conclusion was that charity: water "stands out from other organizations we have considered in some respects (such as conducting evaluations that include frank discussions of problems), but we remain uncertain about the humanitarian impact of their work and the relative effectiveness of their partner selection process."[8]
See also
References
- ^ "How charity water raises millions through digital channels". Artez Interactive. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
- ^ Party Planner Kicks $350 Grey Goose Habit for Clean Water Cause, Bloomberg, Patrick Cole, December 15, 2008
- ^ Crowded roads ahead for charity 2.0, CNET News, Caroline McCarthy, August 5, 2009
- ^ a b Clean, Sexy Water, New York Times, Nicholas D. Kristof, July 11, 2009
- ^ Case study: charity: water, Think Social, May 26, 2009
- ^ "Rachel Beckwith's legacy: $1 million for charity". 2011/08/12. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b http://my.charitywater.org/pewdiepie
- ^ "charity: water (charity review)". GiveWell. 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2012-12-05.